Artist's Statement:

The concept
Seven years ago, while meditating to the Saint Francis Peace Prayer, a thought took hold in my consciousness: paint the prayer. What form the painting would take was not revealed, but I knew, one day, I would paint the prayer.

In November of 2005 I began the journey. My passion for painting and my deep desire for connection were fused to create works that embody my quest to live a spiritual life.

Sometimes it’s a whisper;
Other times, it’s not even there.
When I refocus my attention
I find my way back again, and again,
Secure in God’s grace.

The work
Prayer and meditation inspire and entwine, creating visual metaphors that beckon and engage the viewer in ambiguous, multi-faceted images. Provocative foregrounds are lush with promise and hope, while prayers, poems and mantras, soft as a whisper, weave through vibrant, yet allusive dream worlds, linking the natural with the supernatural. Torn, jagged edges at first seem to belie the paintings' hopeful expression, but on reflection ring true to the nebulous trials of spirituality in earthly form.

About the Artist:

Brenda Blatchford Cirioni graduated in 1983 from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she received a diploma for their four-year, studio-based program. In 1984 she completed their intensive Fifth-Year Certificate Program.

She has shown her work in numerous Boston area galleries, the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Cirioni's painting, Dickinson’s Hope, hangs in the office of Governor Deval Patrick.

She has work in private collections in the Boston area, Maryland, and Texas, and in corporate collections at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Fidelity Investments, and Carroon and Black Insurance Co. in Boston.